Historic TV documentary of 1970s K&A Canal on line

 A feature on the Kennet & Avon Canal made by HTV in 1973 has been put on line by ITV West Country.

There is a lengthy  interview with General Sir Hugh Stockwell who was commander of the land forces during the ill fated Suez Canal campaign of 1956.

His subsequent, and final, campaign as Chairman of the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust (1967), during what was described then as the Trust's darkest hours, and of the British Waterways Board in 1971, led him to make the famous statement to the Queen, “ I lost one canal Ma'm, but I’ll be buggered if I’ll lose another”!

There is also footage of the famous paddle wheeler, The Charlotte Dundas, with a boat full members of the Ladies Guild of St Andrews Church in Bristol singing merrily — despite the rain — along with interviews with many of the stalwarts of the canal's preservation and restoration at that time.

Watch the film at: HTV 1973 feature

Bath Valley towpath tidy

Bath Valley boaters are planning to clear the towpath of litter between Bradford on Avon and Dundas this Saturday (13 November 2010).

Meet at 11am outside the Canal Tavern in Bradford on Avon and bring protective gloves, wheelbarrow, bike trailer, or boathook if possible. 

Bin bags, litter picking spikes and some extra gloves will be provided and there will be handwashing facilities at Dundas. Most of the rubbish will be loaded onto a boat along the way to be offloaded at Dundas. 

Everyone is welcome to join in.

For more information contact: info@boatingcommunity.org.uk

       

Morris Roff 

OBITUARY 

Morris Roff, one of the enthusiasts who made the re-opening of the Kennet & Avon Canal possible, died suddenly at his home in Pewsey on 19 September 2010 at the age of 79.

His funeral took place at St John the Baptist Church in Pewsey on 1 October 2010 and he was buried at Christ Church, East Kennet.

Morris was born at Poulton Farm Cottages in Marlborough and he went to the local St Peter’s School. Morris was profoundly deaf from birth and so his education was continued at the Royal Deaf School in Topsham near Exeter.

     He was apprenticed as a cabinet maker and although he did not make his living with those skills, instead working for Pelham Puppets and Marlborough Borough Council, he did put them to good use — and one of his many projects was to completely restore a wooden cruiser in the garden of his home in Marlborough.

Morris with his sons, Aubrey, left and James beside the cabin cruiser he refurbished in the garden of his home in Marlborough

Morris was one of the early members of Pewsey Wharf Boat Club who battled through the shallow waters  and the duck-weed on the Long Pound between Wootton Rivers and Devizes and showed that navigation was possible.

Morris and his late wife, Jackie, who died in 1999, became the unpaid wardens of Pewsey Wharf in 1979 and they lived in the cottage on the wharf with their two sons, James and Aubrey until 1998. 

Morris Roff beside the wharf at Pewsey

Morris always kept his love of the canal and right up until his death he would regularly be seen on Pewsey Wharf where, despite his hearing and speech problems, he would chat to his many friends about the history of the canal and Wilton Windmill where his grandparents had been the last millers when it was working commercially.

Morris loved the canal and he was an enthusiastic volunteer for the K&A Canal Trust crewing on the K&A Canal Trust trip boat Charlotte Dundas — and later as a skipper on the tiny trip-boat Dragonfly when it was relocated to Pewsey from Bath.

Morris is survived by his two sons, James, 44 and Aubrey 42 and five grandchildren.